Button



July 4, 1939.

H. CHALFlN BUTTON Filed July 13, 1938 INVENTOR. HARRY CHALFIN ATTORNEY.

Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUTTON Harry Chalfin,New York, N. Y.

Application July 13, 1938, Serial No. 218,914

4 Claims. (Cl. 24-113) This invention relates to buttons made of metal,metal and fabric or similar material.

Broadly, it is an object of this invention to produce a metal buttonwhich may be covered or remain uncovered and that may be easily attachedto material in a manner so as to firmly prevent such button fromshifting its position and become detached from the material to which itis applied. 7

Metal buttons have been made with prongs that are bent inwardly from aflange toward the center of the button after the prongs have beeninserted through the material. It is a known fact that almost allmaterial has a certain amount of elasticity. In the wearing of a garmentwith such prong metal buttons attached, the material of the garmentstretches in various directions so that the prongs of the button becomeloosened from the material and fall off. In washing or dry cleaning thegarment, the movement of the material causes stretching and shifting invarious directions so that the metal prongs of the buttons become looseand are lost. Such constant movement of the material of the garmentagainst the 5 thin edges of the prongs eventually cuts the finer strandsof yarn producing holes of increasing size as the button gains greaterfreedom of movement.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to 30 provide a metalprong button that can be readily applied to material with prongs thatcan be bent inwardly so as to lock the fabric to which it is appliedwithin recesses to prevent shifting of the material.

35 Another object of this invention is to provide a type of recess atthe base of the button so that the prongs when bent inwardly willreadily slide into such recesses although such prongs are not bent at aperfect angle.

40 Another object of this invention is to provide a metal button havingprongs and co-acting recesses for ready application and economicproduction and application.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and 45 objects of thisinvention, reference is had to the following detailed description inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the inner flange member of the button.

50 Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through line 22 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the body or cover mem- Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of the cover member shown in Fig. 3.

55 Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a covered button partly broken away toillustrate the body member locking the covering material against theflange of the inner member.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the button partly broken away, with theprongs through the material and bent to lock the material within therecesses of the inner member; and

Fig. 7 shows part of the inner body member showing a prong bent to gripthe fabric within a recess.

Referring to the drawing, numeral I0 represents an inner body member,the top surface II of which is concave. The concave surface II hasformed therein a series of ridges I2 and depressions or recesses l3. Theside of the body 15 member In has a depending flange I4 from which anumber .of prongs I5 extend as shown in Figs.

2 and 5. The prongs I5 protrude beyond the base I6 of the flange I4 farenough so that when the prongs I5 are bent inwardly at line I6, the ends20 I! will fit into the recesses I2.

A cover member I8 having a depending flange I9 is made slightly largerthan the inner body member In so that a cover material 20 may be wedgedbetween depending flange I4 of the inner body member I 0 and dependingflange I9 of the cover member I8.

The cover material 20 may be of fabric, leather, rubber or other similarmaterials. The space between the two flanges I4 and I9 depends upon thethickness of the material used to cover the cover member I8.

In applying the covered button, the prongs I5 of the button are passedthrough the fabric 2| of a garment or other article. The prongs I5 arethen bent at line I6, the base of the flange I4, until the prong locksthe fabric 2I within the recess I2, as shown in Fig. 7.

The sides of the recesses I2 have a gradual slope sothat the edges 22 ofthe prongs will ease into place within the recesses I2. The concavesurface II of the inner body member may be made shallow, as shown inFigs. 2, 5 and 7, so that the bottom 23 of the concave surface will notbe below the base of the depending flange I4. In such a case, the prongsI5 will be bent to a lesser degree than 90 degrees in order to lock thefabric 2I firmly within the recesses I2, thus bringing the fabric 2| outof its normal level plane.

The concave surface II may also be made deeper than the base I6 of theflange I4 so that the prongs I5 will be bent inwardly to ninety degreesor greater than ninety degrees to lock the fabric 21 firmly within therecesses I2. In such a case, the fabric 2| will be brought out of itsnormal plane bringing the fabric 2| in the center of the button belowthe base 16 of the flange The locking of the fabric 2| within therecesses I 2 by the prongs I5 will firmly lock the button into positionand prevent it from shifting as the fabric moves and stretches.

It can be readily seen that buttons as herein described may be made witha great variety of shapes and designs, such as square, triangular,diamond, hexagonal, octagonal and many other artistic and decorativeshapes. Such buttons may also have higher and lower surfaces or hollowcenters to vary the design, all containing the locking arrangement toprevent the movement of the button.

I, therefore, do not desire to limit myself to the shape and designshown in the drawing.

It is obvious that various other changes and modifications may be madein the details of construction without departing from the general spiritof the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a button comprising an inner bodymember and a cover member for said body member, said inner body memberhaving a concave surface portion, said concave surface portion havingridges and recesses, a flange depending from said concave surfaceportion, bendable prongs depending from said depending flange forpiercing a material, said prongs falling within said recesses of saidconcave surface portion to firmly lock said button to said material.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a button comprising a cover memberhaving a depending flange, an inner body member having a dependingflange and fitted within the flange of said cover member, a materialcovering said cover member with its edges locked between the dependingflanges of said cover and said inner body members, bendable prongsdepending from said depending flange of said inner body member forpiercing a material, recesses within the top of said inner body memberto receive the ends of said prongs for locking said button firmly to thepierced material.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a button comprising an inner bodymember having a depending flange, a concave surface portio havingrecesses between said depending flange and prongs depending from thebase of said depending flange, a cover member with a depending flangefor the top of said inner body member for locking a material between theflanges of said inner body member and said cover member, the recesses ofsaid concave surface receiving said prongs to firmly lock said buttonagainst the material to which it is afilxed.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a button comprising a cover memberhaving a depending flange, an inner body member within said cover memberhaving a concave top with recesses therein and a depending flange, acover material over said cover member, the ends of which are firmlylocked between the flanges of the cover and inner body member, dependingprongs from the flange of said inner body member for piercing a materialand locking said material within the recesses of said concave top ofsaid inner body member.

HARRY CHALFIN.

